1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device for the adiabatic energy transfer from an inductive store to an inductive and/or resistive load with or without power amplification.
The invention also provides a method and means for current and power multiplication for electromagnetic guns, high power pulse generators, and inertial fusion. More particularly, this invention relates to a reversible magnetic energy source for energizing the magnetic field coils of a fusion reactor.
2. Background of the Invention
The need for supplying large reversible inductive energy to fusion machines has prompted extensive work. The problem with direct transfer of inductive energy is two-fold: (1) it is theoretically limited to 25% with 50% efficiency, (2) the transfer process is obtained by opening a switch which invariably generates large transient voltages which makes the switching operation very difficult. Prior art related to magnetic fusion applications for energy transfer between inductors concentrated mainly on transferring the energy via a capacitive or inertial (flywheel) "bucket" of variable size. Typically a "bucket" containing 5% of the total energy to be transferred has to be "carried" between the two reservoirs 20 times. (Such systems must still have all the opening switches needed to effect transfer.) In tokamaks inductive energies are in the GJ range and consequently the "bucket" size is in the tens of MJ. The cost of such large capacitive or inertial systems is high.
Conventional prior art related to high power multiplication for pulsed power applications such as high power pulse generators for inertial fusion, radiation sources, electromagnetic guns, and the like involve the resonant energy transfer between inductors and conventional or inertial capacitors. Such transfer is efficient, but it has problems. The inertial capacitor is compact but slow in contrast to the conventional capacitor which is fast but large. Prior art related to power multiplication utilizing inductors only are of two types: (1) A number of inductors are energized in series and reconnected to discharge in parallel. Here all the opening switches affecting the series to parallel conversions also see the extremely destructive high voltage when the resulting parallel arrangement is open circuited to energize the load; a fact that makes this circuit impractical. (2) In the second type, successive transfer of energy between inductors with the attendant inefficiency is affected by opening a switch with or without the aid of a transformer which is used for both impedance transformation and/or decoupling.